Quiet Beauty
by BewilderedLily
Summary: Rosalie has loved Damon through two life times, only to watch him slip through her fingers every time. However, when he shows up in her life once again chasing after another woman, she's determined to show him once and for all who he really belongs with.
1. Chapter 1

**A Quiet Beauty**

**By Karigan Winterwolf**

**Chapter One**

_Dear Diary, September 4th_

_I had that dream again last night. I think they're coming more frequently. It's always the same. The same elegant ballroom filled with colorful gowns and candle light. I can hear the laughter and chatter around me, and smell the faint fragrance of roses coming in from the open terrace doors and the gardens below. And then the dream shifts. _

_Suddenly, I'm outside. The world bathed in moonlight. And there's a man, he's so beautiful it takes my breath away. I know he means __**everything**__ to me, I can feel it in the way my heart clenches and my body heats up. He's looking at me with these amazing obsidian eyes (the only feature I seem to remember clearly.), and he's smiling. I feel joy that he's so carefree, as I get the feeling he hasn't been for some time. Everything in the world seems wonderful, but then he turns from me his gaze arrested by some blond woman that looks oddly like Elena Gilbert. Another man is following her around like a lost puppy, and my dark eyed stranger that I'd been so enraptured with seems just as enchanted with her. _

_From there the dream becomes a nightmare. I feel as if my heart is shattered into a million pieces. No matter how hard I try, the man I love no longer turns to me. I've lost him and I know it. Everything becomes confusing. Nothing is cohesive any longer, and there's a feeling of falling, then nothing. _

_Why am I having these dreams? They've made everything in my life so confusing. I can't seem to escape the sorrow that fills them, nor the gut wrenching feeling of helplessness as I watch myself lose the one I love most over and over again. Is that what they're telling me? That I'm destined to forever love someone who is in love with another? And what does Elena have to do with any of this? I know you pull people you see everyday into your dreams sometimes, but there's never anyone else I know in the dream. It's always Elena. Okay, I know Elena is the Queen Bee of school and every boy's wet dream come to life, but I don't dislike her. I don't really feel anything towards her. The Elena in the dream however, I hate her with a fiery passion. In my dream, she's not just a woman stealing my man she's a monster stealing everything good in the world, all the while with an angelic smile on her face. I despise her. She's not Elena, I definitely know that. Katherine! That's what I'll call her. Don't know why, but I've always disliked that name. _

_I don't know diary. I have no clue what these dreams mean, if anything. Perhaps they're just the messed up dreams of a girl who despairs at never finding a love that's so deep even time can't destroy it. *Sigh* The only thing I do know, diary, is that whoever that man in my dream is, I've never felt anything remotely close to what I feel for him for any of the boys in my school. And while I long for a love like that, these dreams weren't exactly omens of happiness. Is it right for me to long for something/someone that also brings me such pain and misery? _

Rosalie Edwards put her pen down with a sigh. The wind caressed her dark hair gently, as she reached for what was left of her peppermint tea. She was sitting outside on her terrace, the sun just turning the sky a dusky pink. The French doors to her left stood ajar, letting the light from her bedroom spill out into the slightly chilled September air. She loved this time of day. The 'between times' she called them. When the world was still asleep and she had time to center herself and prepare herself for the day. She needed that time, especially today. The summer was over, and the new school year was beginning.

She didn't know if it was the dream or the day, but her skin was tingling with some strange awareness. The sense she'd had all summer that something was coming was gone, replaced with a feeling that things in her world were no longer the same. Even as she looked out into the forest surrounding her home, she felt a shiver of fear run up her spine. The wind carried a sense of events being put into motion, and not all of them good.

Gracefully, she rose from her chair picking up her diary and returning to her bedroom. Her midnight silk robe caressed her curves as she crossed the threshold back into the safety of her bedroom, a sigh of relief passed her lips as she closed the French doors. What was wrong with her? Why suddenly this feeling? And what exactly was this feeling?

Shaking her head she glanced up at the clock, starting as she realized the time. Putting the strange dream and even stranger feeling of anticipation out of her mind, she readied herself for school.

A few minutes later, she stopped to study her reflection in the full length mirror. She smiled as she brushed her fingers over the soft jersey material of her dress. The silver/gray material made her stormy gray eyes pop. Her long ebony hair cascaded around her shoulders in soft waves. The hem of the dress fell just above her knees, showing off her shapely legs. She wore a splash of color at her feet with plum colored wedges, the little heels giving her short 5'1" stature a little boost.

She wasn't a loud beauty like Elena Gilbert. She knew that. But she was beautiful in her own way. Delicate and soft looking, like a little china doll, she was what one would call "lovely". However, underneath that delicate exterior was a will and resolve that never wavered. For a girl of her age, she was amazingly comfortable in her own skin. Her mother used to joke and say that Rosalie was like a forty year old trapped in a teenager's body. An old soul, she was often called.

So while she knew that some would miss her charms if they didn't look close enough, she never felt bad about it. If they were meant to see, they would.

Smiling brightly, she made her way down stairs. The large Victorian house was silent. She was an only child, and her mother and father both worked long shifts at the local hospital. They'd have left for the day.

She picked up the note she knew would be on the fridge and read it.

_Sweetheart,_

_We'll be home for dinner. Sorry we couldn't be here for your first morning of senior year! Can't believe you're growing up so fast! Anyway, we love you very much and hope that you have a wonderful day. _

_Love you always,_

_Mom and Dad_

Humming softly to herself, a song she couldn't remember, she cast one last look around the house and then headed out the door for school.

00000000

"Rosalie!" a voice calls as she steps from her car. She knows who it is before she catches sight of them.

"Jess!" she calls back with a smile.

A pretty blond freckled girl comes to a stop in front of her, her light green eyes shimmering with excitement. "We are saved!" she crows happily.

Rosalie stares at her in confusion, "Saved from what exactly, Jess?" she inquires.

"From the same old boring eye candy!" Jess goes on excitedly. "This majorly hot new guy just arrived and he's wearing expensive Italian clothes! I wonder if he's a model or something. Seriously, he's that hot."

Her heart gives a startled jolt as she automatically begins to search the school steps with her eyes. Could it be the guy from her dreams? Is that why she's been so on edge?

"Where is he?" She asks, trying to keep her sudden excitement from showing. "All I see are familiar faces."

"I saw him headed for the office. Come on, lets go catch a peak before homeroom!" grabbing Rosalie's hand Jess practically drags her through the front door and hallways that follow. Absently she greets people as they call out to her, but her mind is focused almost entirely on finding out about whom this mystery new guy is.

They come to a stop by the office, and holding her breath she glances through the window searching for those dark eyes she remembers almost better than her own. She studies the boy at the counter, watching him talk softly to the secretary about his schedule, but as she takes him in, even before he turns around she knows its not who she's looking for.

She feels her heart sink with disappointment as he turns and for a moment she catches sight of his green eyes, before he hides them behind a pair of expensive dark sunglasses.

"That's him! Oh my God! He's so gorgeous!" Jess whispers heatedly by her side, but she's already lost interest. Yes, he was definitely a good looking guy, but seeing him didn't stir anything but a momentary sense of recognition that passed as soon as he covered his eyes.

Turning away from the window sadly, she catches sight of Elena Gilbert standing a little down the hall from her, surrounded by her entourage of friends. She watches the hungry light come into Elena's blue eyes as she studies the new boy, and Rosalie feels a twinge of pity for the unsuspecting newcomer. When Elena Gilbert set her sights on a guy, it wasn't always pretty. She had a penchant for liking the thrill of the chase, but growing bored soon after it was over. _So I guess Matt is no longer the catch of the week. Poor guy, he was really lost without her this summer. Bet she doesn't even realize how into her he really is. _

She didn't know what possessed her, weather it was the remnants of the dream, or if she just felt sorry for poor Matt. But bidding a quick goodbye to Jess, she made her way to Elena. She noticed the new guy didn't even stop to talk to the blond as he rushed by her. Ouch.

"Hey Elena," she greeted as she came to a stop beside her. "Bonnie, Meredith."

They turned to her, her arrival interrupting something they were whispering amongst themselves.

"Hey, Rosalie!" Bonnie returned cheerfully. "How was your summer?"

"It was good, and yours?" she asked politely. Elena seemed lost in her own little world, but she smiled at Rosalie briefly in greeting. They weren't what you would call close, but they weren't enemies. Rosalie wasn't a hanger on either, so they traveled mostly in different circles.

Bonnie responded kindly. "So did you hear about the new guy? We just learned his name is Stefan Salvatore, isn't that such a nice name?"

A jolt passed through her, like someone had set a live wire to her blood stream. "Salvatore?" she asked softly. The name shouldn't have affected her, but for some reason it echoed through her entire body.

"Yep, Elena's got her sights set on him already," Meredith stated. Her eyes weren't unkind, but she seemed to be warning Rosalie off just in case.

Turning to Elena she was startled to see that she was now the focal point of Elena's attention. "Do you know him?" Elena asked a frown on her perfect face.

Again, Rosalie remembered the girl in her dream. Katherine. The name came to her unbidden. As she studied Elena, she saw the subtle differences between the two women, but the resemblance was so close it was uncanny.

"No, I don't know Stefan Salvatore," she stated plainly. Her gray eyes meeting Elena's unflinchingly. "Just the last name seemed familiar somehow. Maybe I read it somewhere recently."

"Can I say something plainly, Elena?" Rosalie asked, shrugging off the jolt of nerves from a moment ago.

Elena nodded.

"Be nice to Matt. I know how you are with boys, but Matt is really into you and if you're not as interested you need to be honest with him. It's not fair for you to be anything but," she replied bluntly, her soft tone making it clear that she meant no disrespect.

"I don't see how that's any of your business," Elena bit out scathingly. "I'm fully aware that I have to break things off with Matt, and I can take care of it myself."

"Good," Rosalie replied. "Because sometimes Elena, you forget that the world does not revolve around you."

Elena felt her cheeks flush with embarrassment. "Are you jealous of me? Am I taking all of your prospects away from you Rosalie? Since you've never had a boyfriend, you must be pretty bitter."

Impatiently Rosalie rolled her eyes. "Look, Elena I meant no disrespect and I'm definitely not jealous. I don't care if you've got the whole school wrapped around your finger, I don't weep over it at night I promise. And as a general rule, I don't get myself involved in your romances. However, Matt is a friend and he missed you a lot this summer. I think it's unfair of you to drag him through any more of this mess you're making. Cut him loose before he gets hurt even further, Elena."

Having said her piece she turned on her heels and marched away from the fuming girl. She didn't care if Elena Gilbert felt scandalized. Rosalie hated game players. She hated people who thought it was okay to mess with a person's head just because they could. It didn't matter that Elena was Miss Queen Bee. Treating people like your own personal entertainment was cruel and uncalled for.

She'd watched helplessly from the side lines for too long. She would never do it again.

As she headed for homeroom, she couldn't help but recall her dream, and a certain dark eyed man trading her love in for the love of a monster.

00000000

The school day passed in a blur. Not surprising, the school was absolutely abuzz with news of Stefan Salvatore.

She stopped getting goose bumps when his name was spoken, but only just. The feeling that she knew that name: Salvatore from some where persisted. However, with the rush of a new school day, she'd been successful in pushing down the internal flood of questions. Like how the hell she could feel anything for a name of all things? How she could be filled with a wild excitement every time she heard it, a sense of expectancy that was as undeniable as breathing.

So lost in her thoughts, she paid no attention to where her feet were taking her until she plowed into what felt like a wall of granite. Her books flew from her hands and she felt herself falling backwards. She braced herself for the impact, but when it didn't come she opened eyes she didn't realize she'd closed.

Glancing up to thank whoever had caught her, her eyes met the greenest eyes she'd ever seen. They seemed to shimmer like emeralds, and yet they held flecks of amber within their depths. They were also the saddest eyes she'd ever seen, though as they fell upon her face the sadness left and were replaced with shock.

"Lucy?" Stefan Salvatore whispered disbelieving, and as the name drifted down to her ears, she felt the world tip and sway as if the earth beneath her feet was crumbling away.

For a moment she felt a rush of air as if she was falling, and then her vision dimmed. Before it could pull her down into the dark depths, she whispered a question that seemed embedded in the depths of her soul, hidden until now.

"Stefan, where's Damon?" and then she knew nothing else as the world turned black.

oooooo

**Notes from the Author: **

So here we are my first attempt at a Vampire Diaries fan fiction. As you can probably tell, I've taken a few creative liberties. Please don't be too upset with them. Now, I have not read the entire series yet, though I should be done with them within the next couple of weeks. This is a work in progress so please be aware that there might be mistakes or things that don't quite match the novels or show. Also, I might be taking some characters/items/ideas from the TV show if I feel it would make for a more interesting storyline. Under no circumstances do I own any of the Vampire Diaries characters, though Rosalie is definitely mine. I hope you enjoy this first chapter and I will post as often as my muse allows. Please read and review. I like the feedback.

Yours truly,

Karigan


	2. Chapter 2

**Quiet Beauty**

**Karigan Winterwolf**

**Chapter Two**

_Dear Diary, September 5th_

_I fainted in Stefan Salvatore's arms yesterday, diary. It was utterly humiliating. I don't even remember what happened. One moment I was staring up into his green eyes, thinking something and then the next I was in the nurse's office. _

_Stefan was kind enough to stay with me until I woke up, but he wouldn't tell me anything about what had happened, though I asked him repeatedly. He kept saying the shock of almost falling over must have made me faint. _

_Agh! I fainted like one of those helpless damsels in distress, I despise so much! And why do I feel like in that instant before I succumbed to sleep, I remembered something very important? It's so frustrating I can barely stand it. _

_Anyway, the nurse was so worried about me she wanted to call my parents, but I assured her that I was fine. Stefan disappeared shortly after that, though I still recall the strange look on his face as he watched me. _

_Did I say something embarrassing as I fainted? Did I confess my undying love to him or something? I really hope not, since that would not be the truth. And I can only imagine the hell Elena will put me through if she thinks for a second that I'm trying to take what she has already deemed as hers. _

_But oh, diary! What happened? Something huge must have rattled me to send me into such a tail spin. And why, oh why, do I feel like I'm forgetting something so very important? _

_I can't take this gloom for much longer, so I'm going out after school. I think all the solitude of the summer has taken its toll on me. Tonight, I'm going to go out with some friends and forget all about dreams and fainting spells. Gods, I hope it works. _

Rosalie tossed her diary onto her bed as she dashed around getting ready for school. She was determined to forget about everything save fun and school today. It was obvious to her that something wasn't right, but she'd be damned if she was going to curl up into a ball and allow herself to wallow in misery. This was her senior year; she was going to spend it enjoying herself!

Dressed and ready to go, she made her way downstairs and out the front door. Making her way to her car, she wrestled the keys from her bag, glancing up into the trees for just a second. As she turned away a movement caught her eye, stopping her in her tracks.

A large crow sat within the branches of a tall oak, its inky black wings seeming to almost glisten in the morning sun. It studied her, its dark eyes seeming almost human.

Heat filled her body. She wasn't sure why. It was just a bird, but she felt as if it was actually seeing her, trying to discover her secrets. She felt her cheeks flush slightly.

"It's not polite to stare," she called out, feeling silly the moment the words left her lips. But to her surprise, the bird seemed to incline its head in understanding before it rustled its great wings and took off into the sky with a parting caw.

_I'm going crazy. _She thought to herself as she unlocked her car and cast one last glance into the trees, stepped inside and closed the door. _I'm definitely losing my flipping mind._

**oooooooooo**_  
_

"Stefan!" she called as she rushed down the hall to catch up to him. She was thankful when he stopped, though he looked slightly uncomfortable. And the looks she was getting from the other students in the hall made her acutely aware that she was bringing undo attention to herself.

"Rosalie," he acknowledged politely. "May I help you with something?"

She smiled at him wryly, shaking her head at his stoic ways. It was strange but she felt a slight sense of déjà vu, though she disregarded it for the moment. "I'm sorry to call out to you like that, but I wanted to catch you before you left."

"I see," he answered a half smile tugging at his lips.

She rolled her eyes. "I wanted to thank you for helping me out yesterday. I know I was too busy grilling you for answers to say it properly. Kind of threw me for a loop, fainting like that. I'm sorry if I startled you or inconvenienced you in any way. I really don't know what came over me."

He looked startled for a moment, as if he hadn't expected any gratitude. "You're welcome. I wouldn't have left you lying there so vulnerable, Rosalie."

She beamed at him brightly. "Okay, good. Now I don't feel like a complete jackass. And I'm not too embarrassed to shake hands and be friends now." With a laugh she held her hand out to him.

"Yes, I think I'd like that," he said almost teasingly and shook her hand and she decided that smiling was a welcome change from the dark brooding look he usually sported. However, even as she formed the thoughts his smile froze and he was pulling his hand from hers, his attention shifting from her to someone approaching from behind her.

She turned to find Elena approaching, and was surprised to see an almost timid look on her face. She met Elena's eyes for a moment before quickly shifting back to Stefan's. Elena didn't look too happy that she was standing here speaking to Stefan so openly. Rosalie hoped that Elena wasn't getting the wrong idea.

"Hi, I'm Elena Gilbert and I'm on the senior welcoming committee, and I've been assign—" Elena started, but Stefan cut in.

"I'm sorry; I don't have the time." He stated, almost desperately Rosalie thought.

"—to show you around the school—"

"I'm sorry; I can't. I have to—to get to football tryouts." He rushed on. His eyes landing on Matt, who came to a halt slowly as he came into ear shot. "Matt, you said tryouts were right after school, didn't you?"

"Yes," Matt said slowly. "But—"

Turning away from Elena, Stefan began to march in the general direction of the football field. "Lets get moving then. You can show me the way."

As Matt cast Elena an apologetic look, Rosalie turned her wide eyes from Stefan's quickly retreating back to Elena's slightly flushed face. Rosalie couldn't recall a single time when a boy had turned down anything Elena was willing to offer.

She started to notice the crowd that had gathered around them, and her eyes fell on Caroline Forbes' sickeningly satisfied smirk. With a glare that could melt the polar ice caps, she stared Caroline down until the other girl turned scarlet and then she turned her full attention to Elena, who was looking rather lost.

"Hey Elena, I wanted to speak to you about something, you mind walking with me to my car? I'll give you a ride home if you want." She spoke brightly, looping her arm into Elena's and practically dragging her down the hallway and out the front doors.

When they had made it safely away from prying eyes, she turned to Elena again, dropping her arm gently. "You okay?" she asked softly.

Elena looked at her blankly for a moment before responding. "Yes, I just –don't think that's ever happened to me before."

Rosalie nodded sympathetically. "I wouldn't let it get you down, Elena. Stefan's either got some logical reason for acting the way he does, or maybe you make him nervous for some reason."

"You seemed to get along fine with him, despite the fact that he only arrived yesterday," Elena accused, her hurt feelings making her jealous. She moved to continue, but stopped as she took in Rosalie's expression.

"No way, Elena Gilbert," Rosalie said sternly. "I refuse to be your punching bag. I have no feelings whatsoever for Stefan Salvatore beyond friendship, however if I did, that would neither be your business nor give you just cause to verbally attack me. You may be the Queen Bee of Robert E. Lee High, but you are not my queen, you understand? I'm not going to stand around and let you make me feel bad when I just tried to do you a favor!"

Rosalie turned on her heels and stormed away from the gaping golden girl. She made it only five steps before Elena called out to her.

"Rosalie, wait," she cried grabbing the girl's hand to stop her. "Look, I'm sorry. I wasn't thinking straight. I'm still reeling from the thing with Stefan, and I saw you guys talking so comfortably when I came up to you, my mind latched on to that for a moment. Plus, all that stuff that happened yesterday. I didn't mean it."

Rosalie turned and fixed Elena with her gray eyes, studying her to make sure she was being sincere. Satisfied with what she saw she nodded once in forgiveness.

"Elena, not every person in the world is going to fall in love with you instantly. Maybe most, but you have to deal with the fact that sometimes you lose some." She stated with a sigh.

"Yes, but I've never wanted anyone like I want Stefan," Elena said softly. "There's something about him that makes me want only him."

"Well, then don't give up," Rosalie said point blank. "If you feel that way about him, then do what you do best. Dazzle him with your Elena ways, and I'm sure you'll get him. Just do me a favor okay?"

Elena laughed, "And what would that be?"

Rosalie shook her head and then fixed Elena with that stern look again. "Make sure you really want him alright? I get the feeling that Stefan Salvatore has had a bit of a tough time, so don't decide you don't want him once he's yours. That just isn't fair."

Elena nodded solemnly. "I promise." She said gravely.

"Good," Rosalie smiled gently. "Now, lets get out of here before we're the only ones left. Do you want that ride home?"

"Sure."

**oooooooooo**

That night, she couldn't sleep. The air in her bedroom seemed too heavy, and after an hour of tossing and turning she gave up with a frustrated sigh.

Slipping out of bed she reached for her robe, pulling it over the purple satin shorts and camisole she was wearing. A quick glance at the clock on her nightstand telling her it was two o'clock in the morning. She went to the French doors and pulled them open, stepping out into the slightly chilled air.

She went to the railing, leaning her weight on it with a sigh. She felt restless tonight, as if she would come out of her skin. She longed for something, but she couldn't begin to say what it was. A strange wave of loneliness washed over her.

"Why do I feel like this?" she whispered into the night. The moon glowed brightly over head illuminating the night softly. "I don't understand this."

There was no warning before arms snaked around her body, yanking her backwards against a warm body. Before she could scream her mouth was covered. Terror ripped through her, and she struggled helplessly against the bands of steel holding her.

She felt something nuzzle against her neck, and she trembled in fear. "What are you doing standing all alone outside in the dark, little Lucy," a smooth voice whispered in her ear. "Or should I call you little Rosy now."

She whimpered wretchedly against the hand that kept her silent. She was shaking so hard that her teeth chattered. How did they get to her on the terrace? Had they come through the house? Were her parents okay?

"Don't be scared Rosalie, I won't hurt you, much," the voice chuckled. His warm breath caressed her ear and exposed neck. "I'm going to remove my hand from your mouth, please don't scream or I'll have to quiet you again and I might not be so gentle about it."

She nodded, and was relieved when he let her go. Immediately she flung herself away from him, turning to escape into the safety of her house. An instinct telling her she'd be safe if she could just make it over the threshold.

But quicker than she thought possible, she was swept up against him, her breath knocked from her as her breasts were crushed against the rock hard planes of her attackers chest. She struggled, but did not scream. A fear that he would hurt her parents if they came keeping her silent.

A jarring shake stopped her useless struggles, and she swore her teeth rattled in her head.

"Please, let me go," she pleaded. "Please."

"I will if you're good, little Rosalie," the voice teased

"Stop calling me that!" she cried, finally yanking her gaze from the muscular chest in front of her to see the face of the person who was attacking her.

The ground seemed to tilt and she had to cling to this stranger as she tried to regain her balance. Staring down at her mockingly was a face she knew better than her own, and yet had somehow forgotten.

Dark almost black eyes gazed down into her silver ones and in that instant something inside her clicked into place. Everything she'd thought she knew about herself and life in general, shattered into a million tiny pieces.

A life she'd forgotten came rushing at her, filling her up until she wasn't sure if she was Rosalie Edwards anymore or this other version of herself.

Softly she whispered his name, tasting it on her tongue.

"Damon."

**oooooooooooo**

**Author's Notes: **

Hope you enjoyed it. Please remember to review.


	3. Chapter 3

I apologize for the delay in getting this chapter out. It was a bit of a pain to write. Thank you to the people who reviewed, I'm so glad that you like it thus far. I will try to update a bit sooner next time. Lol. Writers block willing.

Also, I am trying to be as historically accurate as I can be however there may be holes in my research. So if you find something that isn't right please let me know so that I can make the necessary changes.

Standard Disclaimer: I do not own the characters from Vampire Diaries, however I do own Rosalie and I do own this story. All ideas and writing here is completely mine.

**OOOOOOOO**

**Quiet Beauty**

**Karigan Winterwolf**

**Chapter Three**

**OOOOOOOO**

_Dear Diary, June, 26__th__ 1545_

_I met the Salvatore's today. What a strange experience it was._

_Father was in one of his moods, as you already know, he's not too fond of me. I tried to be on my best behavior, but nothing I did seemed to please him. _

_Of course, nothing I do __**EVER**__ pleases father. _

_Signore Salvatore seemed to be a nice enough man however. He smiled at me and told me I was quite the young lady. I have to admit, I was hard pressed to find any fault with him after that. _

_It wasn't Signore Salvatore or my father that made the day so strange however, it was in fact his two sons: _

_Damon and Stefan Salvatore_

_They are completely different in almost every way. Stefan is shy and not quick to speak, while Damon is confident and charming. The first thing he did upon meeting me was to grasp my hand and kiss it. Can you believe it? I think perhaps, he is what my father likes to call a rake. It must have been that because for some odd reason the moment his lips traced against the skin of my hand, I felt a shiver of something race up my spine. _

_Perhaps I'm becoming ill. _

_Damon is three years older than I am, and Stefan is older than me only by a year. I find that I enjoy Stefan's company greatly. After the initial introductions were over, father allowed the boys to show me the grounds. Stefan immediately volunteered to be my guide and he showed me all the fun places to play around the estate. Damon tagged along as well, tossing in his own comments here and there. He stuck pretty close to me, which seemed to bother Stefan._

_Oh, that's the strangest thing of all, diary. _

_Damon and Stefan seem to dislike each other very much, though they are brothers. For every helpful remark Stefan had, Damon had an equally sarcastic reply. I almost believe the only reason Damon came along at all is because he knew it would get on Stefan's nerves somehow. And though I just met them, at times I felt rather like the rope in a game of tug rope. By the time dinner was announced, I was pretty worn just from trying to keep things civil. _

_All in all, I don't really know what to make of either of them. However, I cannot wait until tomorrow. Some how, I have been invited to join both Damon and Stefan for their daily lessons. I think this is perhaps a plot that father and Signore Salvatore cooked up, for what purpose I don't know. And I haven't the faintest clue how Signore Salvatore managed to convince my father to allow me to be taught along side a couple of boys, but I won't complain. I love to learn after all. _

**OOOOOOO**

_Dear Diary, June 26__th__, 1546_

_It's been exactly one year since I started my lessons with the Salvatore brothers. I adore it. Those precious hours are the absolute best in my day. I don't know what I would do with myself if I did not have those lessons to look forward to. As it is, there are times I feel that I will always be alone. _

_Father has been away for a while now. He has business in Venice and it keeps him away for long stretches of time. I am left with nothing but the servants and the Salvatore's for company. Though, in truth, I do not mind that he is away so much. At least then I am free from the guilt I feel whenever he is around. Guilt that I am somehow lacking in something so important that my own father cannot bring himself to love me. _

_Every single time he looks at me, I feel that he is searching for something, what he searches for, I do not know. However, he never finds it, and then I have to endure that look of disgust before he turns away and dismisses me yet again. No, it is much better for me that he ignores me._

_I did find out, finally, why it is my father allowed me to attend tutoring with the Salvatore's. Signore Salvatore told me himself. _

_It would seem that my father had been originally against me learning anything useful in life (a fact that I know only too well), but Signore Salvatore had convinced my father that an education would only be to my improvement. He told my father that an uneducated woman was a dull woman, and even went so far as to point out that my own mother had been quite an educated woman herself, though most women of our station can't even write their own names let alone read it. _

_My father remained unconvinced, until Signore Salvatore hinted that I would also be able to spend a lot of time with his sons. This convinced him almost immediately of course, as it is common knowledge that both my father and Signore Salvatore wish me to marry one of the brothers. Why, I would already be betrothed to one of them if Signore Salvatore hadn't insisted that I be allowed to at least discover for myself if I liked one of them. _

_Yes, diary, it would seem that I am to be wed to one of the Salvatore brothers. Can you even conceive of it? _

_Oh, I suppose that they are both quite handsome, especially Damon, who is by all accounts almost beautiful. However, he's also a cad and a notorious flirt. Every day I watch him flirting with the servant girls, and every day the flirting seems to get more outrageous. He's also got a penchant for gambling with the stable boys. I heard it from Stefan that he is down at the stables twice a week. Could you imagine being married to someone that uncouth? _

_Alright, perhaps I'm not being fair. He isn't all bad. Well, not bad at all really. Though he isn't one for revealing himself too often, there are times when he is unguarded with me. He also seems to be right where I need him, whenever I need him. And sometimes, I find his eyes on me, although that may be just in my imagination. The truth is that though I have known Damon for over a year now, he is still somewhat of a stranger to me, and I find myself too shy to really open up with him, the way I have with Stefan. _

_As for Stefan, I don't even WANT to imagine that. Stefan is like a brother to me. Oh, he is handsome and courteous, and always polite with me. However, I find his way of brooding almost maddening sometimes. It's not to say he is a weakling because he isn't. No, it's more that he takes too much to heart. Damon will say some idiotic thing to him, some comment that is blatantly made to get under Stefan's skin, and though its happened innumerable times, Stefan always lets it bother him. At times, all I want to do is give him a hard shake and tell him that Damon is only doing it to get a response, so quit giving him one already!_

_No, I can't possibly marry one of the Salvatore brother's, diary. I cannot possibly marry at all! Boys are just too confusing. _

**OOOOOOO**

_Dear Diary, August, 13__th__ 1550_

_I'm in love with Damon. _

_Oh God, how could I allow such a thing to happen? _

_What's more frightening, is that I now believe that I might have always been in love with him, only I was content to not know it. _

_How could I have fallen in love with Damon of all people? He is the absolute worst with women. Haven't I watched him flirt with everything in a skirt for the past five years? And yet here I am, madly in love. _

_However, he truly is the kindest man I have ever met. Though it took some time to understand him, once I did understand, it was there for me to see as clear as day. _

_Underneath all that sarcasm and teasing beats a heart that is truer than any I have ever known. I know without a shadow of doubt that the woman, who does finally win his heart, will have it for the rest of her days. And oh Gods, I want that woman to be me._

_I don't know how it happened, I don't even know exactly when. However, over the past five years his presence in my life has become irreplaceable. I can't imagine not being able to talk with him or laugh with him. _

_I still remember the first day he opened up to me. It was that day I fell from the olive tree and hurt my leg. The moment I hit the ground, I was swept up into his arms. He carried me from the orchard to the house as if I weighed no more than air. I hadn't even known he was there, watching as I reached to pluck an olive from a branch that was just out of my reach and lost my footing. Why, he was there faster than Stefan was, and Stefan was only a few branches away. _

_It was that summer though, while I lay in bed waiting for my leg to heal, that Damon finally let me in. He'd sit with me for hours talking to me or reading to me from one of my favorite books of poetry. It was during one of those talks that he told me of his jealousy towards Stefan, how Signore Salvatore expected so much from him and how he wanted very much to be able to fulfill his duty, but never seemed to get it as quickly as Stefan seemed to. He told me how he felt that Stefan should have been the first born, as he was far better than him at managing the estate. _

_I told him how my own father couldn't stand the sight of me because I wasn't an exact copy of my dear mother. That I figured out the thing that displeased my father every time he looked at me was the fact that I would never be as beautiful as my mother once was._

_He let me in diary and I believe perhaps from that moment on, I knew that I wanted to be the one he confided in always. I wanted to be the one to know him as no one else has ever known him. _

_I don't know why it took me so long to see it. Five years, three since that summer, and its only now that I realize how dear he is to me. _

_It happened this morning. I went to visit with them, after I managed the household duties, as I always do. (Father hasn't been home in almost two years. I believe there is a woman he visits in Venice, and though I mean nothing to him, I hope that she brings him the happiness he's been lacking since my mother's death.) I had no sooner walked into the drawing room when Stefan had informed me that Damon will be leaving for University in a fortnight. It was as if the air had been sucked out of the room. I couldn't help it, I started to cry. _

_Yes, as appalling as that is, I could not stop the flood of tears. Thankfully, Damon was not present to watch me lose complete control of myself, and of course Stefan knew exactly what was wrong with me. After comforting me, he very casually turned to me and asked me how long I'd been in love with Damon. For which, I immediately told him he had lost his mind and had no idea what he was talking about. And then at precisely that moment, Damon walked in. _

_Time seemed to stop, diary. He stopped in the doorway and there was a look on his face that I shall never forget. For a moment, he just studied me, watched as I tried to hide my distress and all the while there was that look, that undecipherable look on his handsome face, and in that instant everything seemed to click into place. I knew that I was and had always been in love with him, and to my horror, I think he knows it. _

_For the first time in three years, I feel uncertain around him. I struggle to hide what I feel because I fear losing him. If he does in fact know what my feelings are towards him, I can only believe that the reason he has never acted on them is because he does not feel the same for me. Of course, he would not want to hurt my feelings, I know him well enough to know that even if he is not in love with me he still cares for me. _

_As much as it pains me, I feel that perhaps his leaving is for the best right now. I know he will return, and by then maybe I will know what I am supposed to do, if I should tell him my feelings or bury them inside of myself so that he may never know it. Or maybe if he does feel something for me, this time apart will allow him the time to figure out what his own next step will be. _

_I am so uncertain of everything. The only thing that I do know for sure is that I do not want to lose him. If I have to, I will hide my feelings of love so far inside myself that no one will ever guess it is there, if it means that I can at least remain his friend._

_But Dear God, I love him so very much. How will I bear it if he does not feel the same for me?_

**OOOOOOO**

_Dear Diary, April 20__th__ 1551_

_How can life be so cruel? How can I go on knowing the things that I now know?_

_Damon is in love with another. _

_Shortly after Damon left for University, a girl around my age came to stay in the Salvatore household. _

_Her name is Katherine. _

_She is breathtakingly beautiful. Her hair is as golden as the sun, and her eyes an almost luminous blue. She is every man's fantasy of what a woman ought to be, I am sure. _

_In manner, she is bright and amiable and somehow she wields this power over the Salvatore men, a power I now know I could not hope to compete with. Even Signore Salvatore seems taken with her (though in a wholly different way)._

_Since her arrival, I have faded into the background. It is like I don't even exist anymore, as if I am a mere shadow. Oh, they are as polite and agreeable as they always have been, but no longer is my company sought after, no longer am I the one they both confide in. _

_And my Damon, I feel him slipping away a little more every day. He no longer speaks to me as he used to, though he is still affectionate, I am more of a sister to him than a lover. Whatever might have been between us before Katherine's arrival has now faded into nothing. And I am left alone yet again. _

_The worst of it is that Stefan is in love with her as well. The strain between Damon and Stefan has reached new heights. In fact, I believe that if they continue the way they have been, they will despise one another. I have tried to caution Katherine on this matter, but she laughs at me and pretends she does not know what I speak of. _

_I know she lies to me!_

_As 'well mannered' as she appears to be, I have no illusion that she knows precisely what game she is playing. The more I watch the way she pits those two against one another, the more I realize that she is __**ENJOYING**__ herself! _

_The farther apart she manages to drive them, the more delighted she seems to be. How could anyone find such pleasure in ruining the relationship between two brothers?_

_I am also inclined to believe that she knows of my feelings towards Damon, for it seems she takes great pleasure in flaunting his infatuation with her whenever I am near. If she is there, I am lucky if Damon will even glance in my direction. _

_I am in agony, diary. I feel so powerless and so utterly invisible. My heart races whenever I see his beloved face, and yet to him, I am nothing. How do I endure this? How do I pretend that all is well with me, when every hope and dream I have had is now dead? What is to become of me? _

**OOOOOOO**

_Dear Diary, July 2__nd__, 1551_

_Katherine is a monster!_

_Last night, the Salvatore's threw a ball in Katherine's honor. You see, she's always been a rather sickly girl, but miraculously, her health has improved greatly over the last few weeks. _

_Or so I believed it was miraculous. _

_During the ball, I watched her slip away with one of the male guests. Damon and Stefan, who never leave her side, were entangled in a discussion with their father, so they did not see her leave. _

_I know it was wrong of me, but I did not like the look she had on her face as she led the man away, so I followed. _

_I followed her down into the gardens, normally one of my favorite places in the Salvatore home, however as I walked over those familiar grounds I felt a sense of dread welling up inside of me. I almost turned back, but I feared that perhaps the gentleman might try to take advantage of their solitude. It would not be right of me to leave her alone, defenseless. _

_It shocked me, when I came upon them leaning up against one of the nearby trees, hidden in the shadows. At first, I believed that the man was taking advantage of the poor girl, so in my haste I rushed forward to try and assist her only to discover that it was she, Katherine who had the man pressed against the tree, and she had her face buried in his neck. _

_My shock was so that at first I believed it was nothing more than a lover's embrace (of course this too was shocking in and of itself), however I must have made a noise, some sound to announce my presence. _

_When Katherine glanced up at me, her mouth was covered in blood. _

_She'd been drinking from that poor man's neck! _

_If that wasn't already beyond belief, when she realized I'd been watching, she smiled at me! Her eyes seemed to gleam in the glow of the moonlight, and she laughed at my horror!_

"_Silly Lucia, it's not safe to be wandering around in the dark," she'd giggled at me and to me at that very moment, she seemed almost insane! There was madness to her that I had never before seen. _

_Very casually she did something to the man's neck, and then carelessly let him fall to the ground. He made no sound, and I feared that she had killed him. _

_As if she could read my mind she laughed yet again and assured me that he wasn't dead, that she'd only wanted a little snack before returning to the ball and her devoted guests. _

_I know I should have screamed; I should have done something besides stand there like a fool. However, as frightened as I was, my first thoughts were for Damon and Stefan, Those two men, who are dearer to me than anyone else in my life. They were in love with this creature, and I needed to know if she meant them harm. Even amidst the panic, I needed to make sure they were safe._

_However, when I asked her what she meant to do to them, she smiled at me cruelly. Quicker than I had ever seen anything move, she had me pinned to the ground. She laughed at my fear, and told me that I was not to worry about Damon or Stefan any more. She told me that they belonged to her, and that I had no power to take them back. _

_I wanted to deny it, wanted to struggle against it, and the words were on the tip of my tongue when my worst nightmare came to pass. _

_Damon appeared as if from nowhere. He pulled Katherine from me, embracing her as she struggled to come at me again. His eyes pierced me, and his regard of me was so cold and barren of all its normal warmth towards me. It was as if he was looking at a complete stranger. _

"_Leave us," he ordered. "You are to forget everything you saw tonight, it never happened." _

_I begged him to explain to me what was going on, how he could know what Katherine was and still ask me to leave. _

_And then he said them. The words I'd dreaded since Katherine had appeared in our lives and ruined everything. Deep inside, I'd already known, but some small part of me wanted to believe it was merely a passing fancy. _

"_I have known what she is for quite some time now, Lucy," he stated, and the words bit into my soul, ripping me apart from the inside. "But I love her, I love Katherine and it doesn't matter to me what she is. If you reveal what she is to anyone, I will kill you myself."_

_God help me, I can still remember the look in his eyes as he said those words to me. I didn't know what to do. For one endless moment, we stood, watching each other. All the years we had known one another, the friendship we had built. In that moment, I felt them break apart like pieces of fragile glass, or perhaps it was merely the shattered edges of what was left of my own heart. Nothing was ever going to fix the rift that had opened up between us, and I knew it absolutely. Katherine had succeeded. She'd destroyed everything._

_It was the cruel smile I saw playing on her lips as she watched me struggle not to lose myself to my grief that finally urged me into action. I turned from them and I ran as far as my legs could carry me. I don't know how I made it to my carriage, or how I made it home again. _

_I write this entry now because I had not the strength to do it last night. I sit alone in my room now. I have not slept, I have not eaten. The servants are worried; I can hear the faint sound of their chatter as they walk down the halls. However, I haven't the strength to care anymore. _

_I have lost him. I have lost Damon. _

_I cannot bare the pain. I cannot erase the look on his face as he forsook all that was between us, for that monster._

_I am truly lost._

**OOOOOOO**

_Dear Diary, July 30__th__, 1551_

_Damon is dead._

_I've had the news from one of the servants' only moments ago. _

_Damon and Stefan are dead, my beloved and my best friend, dead by each others hand._

_They say that Katherine took her own life, and the brother's, so in agony over her death lost their minds and went for each other. _

_I cannot breathe._

_Why has it turned out like this? How could everything have gone so wrong? Wasn't it only yesterday that the three of us were laughing and playing as children? Wasn't it not too long ago that I was falling in love? How did it end up like this?_

_I never got the chance to say goodbye. _

_I haven't left this room since that night at the ball, haven't had the strength to move. Even now, I know I should go to Signore Salvatore and offer my condolences, but there is no strength left in me. There is nothing left for me to fight for. _

_He left me. He left me alone. How could he? How could he abandon me? How could he throw away his life for the sake of that woman? How could he, when I have been here loving him with every ounce of my strength, never asking him for anything in return? _

_Is my love that worthless? Am I so unwanted, undesirable that no matter how deeply or how truly I love, it is so easily thrown away?_

_I have nothing left, there is nothing left of me._

**OOOOOOO**

_Dear Diary, August, 13__th__ 1551_

_I am dying._

_It takes all my strength to write this entry, but there is no one else to hear my last words, no one left. _

_They have sent a letter to my father in Venice, where he now resides with his mistress, but I know it will not reach him in time. I doubt it would matter even if it did. He has never loved me, never cared for me, the daughter who is a failure to him in every respect. _

_This is not what I wish to write about however._

_I had a dream last evening. _

_I dreamed that Damon came to me in the night. _

_He sat upon my bed, with my hand in his. The look on his face was filled with such sorrow I know it could only have been a dream. My Damon would never show such naked emotion on his beautiful face. _

_I asked him if he truly hated me, but regretted the question as soon as it left my mouth; as his features became so troubled._

"_I could never hate you," he whispered to me bringing my hand to his lips and planting a kiss on my palm."Forgive me for making you believe it was so."  
_

_I could not stand the pain on his face, so I laughed and asked him if he remembered that he'd done something similar the day we first met._

"_Yes, you were my little Lucy from that moment onward," he replied teasingly. _

_I wanted to tell him how much I loved him, how I had loved him from that very first moment, how he had been my Damon from that moment onward, but the words did not come. I believe some part of me was afraid that those words would only cause him more pain._

"_I miss you," I whispered instead. "I wanted very much to see you one last time before I go."_

_He held me then, diary. One moment I was lying in my bed gazing up at his dear face, and the next I was cradled so close to him, I could feel his breath fluttering the strands of my hair. _

_I don't know what expression he was wearing then, for I hadn't the strength to even lift my head to find his face. I think perhaps I cried then, great gasping sobs of grief and loss and love. To finally be in his arms after yearning for it for so long, it was heaven and hell all wrapped up into one little moment. _

_All the while, he held me; his hand had found its way to my hair, burrowed into the strands and cradled my head to him as if he would never let me go. _

_I felt myself beginning to drift away, knew even in the dream that soon I would wake up and he'd be gone, though I grasped his shirt to me as tight as I could in an effort to stop it, I knew soon the dream would end._

"_Damon," I sighed as the abyss began to drag me back down, understanding that these were my last moments with him. "I love you. I will always love you."_

_I heard his harshly indrawn breath as if it were miles away. Mustering up the last of my strength I turned to look at his beloved face one last time. And oh Gods, on his face was that look he'd had so long ago, that day I'd realized I loved him. _

"_I will find you again, Damon," I promised breathlessly, my eyes closing at last. "No matter how many lifetimes it takes, I will find you and when I do I will never leave you again, even if you can never love me back, I will never ever leave you again. This I vow to you."_

_I felt his lips brush against mine just for the barest second, and then he was whispering something against them urgently, but I could not grasp them. The darkness had me, and I was too far to hear them. _

_This morning when I awoke, I expected to feel nothing but the heavy burden of grief and despair I've been so close to these past weeks. However, when the sun kissed my face, and I recalled those beautiful moments in the dream, I felt only peace._

_I know not what that dream meant. If it was some message from Damon from the other side, or if it was merely the last remnants of my wishful heart conjuring his image before I leave this world. It does not matter; I will carry it with me till the last breath leaves my body. _

_Goodbye, dear diary, I know I shall never write here again. I have used the last of my strength to pen this entry, wanting to put the beauty of that dream down on paper, hoping that by writing it on something physical, the Universe or God might see it and know it is real. That the promise I made in that dream might somehow come to pass, and I will one day see my Damon once again._

_So let it be written here for all the world to see and acknowledge._

_I Lucia (Lucy) DeMarco, daughter of Silvia and Giovanni DeMarco lived. And in this life and all the ones that may follow I loved Damon Salvatore with all of my strength and all of my soul._

**OOOOOOO**

**Phew! Damn that was a difficult chapter to write. So here it is. I know that there are probably a million and one mistakes, however I wanted to post this as soon as I finished writing it because of the long delay in getting it out. I will most likely be going through it in a few days and making the needed corrections, but for now you have your update. **

**I realize the fact that it is in diary form might be a little confusing (though I hope not), however I have chosen to write it this way because I want you to know who Lucy DeMarco was at the very heart of her, I want you to understand how deeply she did love Damon. In later chapters, we will find out the other nitty gritty details, but for now this is all I want you to know.**

**I hope you enjoyed this chapter, it took quite a bit of working and reworking to get it down on paper the way I wanted it. **

**As always, please review and thank you for reading. =)**


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Vampire Diaries characters.**

**OOOOOOOO**

Quiet Beauty

By Karigan Winterwolf

Chapter Four

**OOOOOOOO**

"Oh God, Damon," she whispered softly, wonderingly.

It was automatic, the lifting of her hand to brush her fingers against his beloved face, to trace the features that had haunted her every dream for as long as she could remember; haunting her through time itself, through two lifetimes. Her heart clenched as that mocking smile crossed his features, a throwback to when he was a little boy who could never seem to please his demanding father.

She trembled as the onslaught of memories flooded her mind. Flashes of another life, another time crashed through her psyche with all the force of a tidal wave. It filled her soul up until she felt as if she would come apart at the seams. It was a struggle to find the line between the two parts of her soul and separate them enough to remember who she was in the here and now.

"So you do remember me, Little Lucy," Damon crooned sardonically, he pressed her shaking form closer. He had one hand wrapped around the nape of her neck and the other at her waist having put them there as she swayed against him. "I'm so flattered."

"Rosalie," she corrected firmly. "My name is Rosalie Edwards, not Lucy."

"Yes, but once upon a time, you were sweet little Lucia DeMarco," he chuckled darkly his fingers moving up to tangle in her heavy mass of dark curls gripping them tight as he made her look at him. "How is it that you're standing before me now, when I remember you dying almost five hundred years ago?"

She hissed at the pain as he pulled her head back firmly but not cruelly, her startled gaze meeting his. She felt the part of her soul that was Lucy surge up, desires that had been dormant in her soul for centuries clamoring to find relief, sweet release. It took all of her might to remember who she was, to not close the small gap between them and taste the lips she'd been yearning to taste for so long.

She licked her lips, trying to pull herself together; of course the fact that his eyes traced the movement hungrily did nothing to calm her already frazzled nerves. However, through the haze, his words finally registered to her brain.

"How could you know that I died when I distinctly remember dying almost a month after your own death? Gods, if that isn't the strangest thing to come out of my mouth!" she griped, all too aware of his eyes on her and how her body was pressed very closely to his. It really left nothing to the imagination. She didn't even want to get started on why she wasn't at all afraid of this man who had just accosted her and promised to hurt her mere moments before.

He smiled wickedly, leaning even closer to nip the tip of her nose playfully. "That would be because I wasn't dead, not truly dead anyway, when Little Lucia DeMarco left this world."

She stiffened as she absorbed these words and the possible meaning of them. "They told me you and Stefan were dead, that you had taken each other's lives in an idiotic duel."

"Yes, but we didn't stay dead for long," the smile never leaving his face as he watched her put the pieces together. When she turned her wide eyes up to gaze at him, she could swear he was about to laugh.

"You let Katherine make you a **VAMPIRE**?" her voice rose to a near shriek on that last word. Lucy might not have known back then what Katherine was, but a modern girl who had seen Interview with a Vampire a thousand times definitely wouldn't mistake what she'd seen that night of the ball as anything else.

"Of course," he answered his face suddenly deeply serious. He seemed to be studying her expression as he kept going. "I was in love with her and wanted to spend eternity with her after all."

It hurt; those words from him. They opened a scar that Rosalie had never known existed until the memories of her past life came rushing back to her. It was unfair that she should carry the burden of that scar when she wasn't the one who had foolishly fallen in love with a notorious womanizer. However, the pain of it seared her none the less, and for a moment she was carried back to that night of the ball and the agony she'd endured those last few weeks of her life.

Lucy DeMarco had died of a broken heart. It had started that night of the ball and ended shortly after she'd been informed of Damon's death. She'd wasted away into nothing for a man who loved another woman, a man who hadn't even known that Lucy was in love with him. Or had known and simply didn't give a damn.

Anger began to simmer inside of her. Lucy had given everything she had to this man, and he'd thrown her away for the first available beautiful piece of ass that came his way. Not only that, he'd allowed that same piece of ass to change him into her likeness, forsaking the people that had loved him all of his sorry life.

She pushed against him, shoving him away from her with the full force of her strength. He let her go and took a step back, and it infuriated her to know that if he had not wanted to let go of her, she would not have been able to move him. She moved back, trying to put as much distance between them as she could.

"That's right, I'm remembering that part of the story pretty clearly now," she stated her voice laced with barely suppressed anger and her eyes flashing silver as she glared at him across the balcony. "You threatened to kill me then. Is that what you're here to do now, Damon? Are you going to kill me?"

His usual mask slipped into place, and he watched her calmly as he answered. "If I wanted to kill you, you'd be dead right now, little Rosalie."

"Then why the hell are you here, Damon?" she snapped, the hold on her temper breaking and she slapped her hand against the railing of the balcony to cut off his response. "No, don't tell me, I think I know the answer."

She stared him down fiercely as the pieces of the puzzle began to take form in her head.

"Stefan is here and if I'm not mistaken there is a certain girl here that has an uncanny resemblance to Katherine. I'm sure that both of you have noticed this. Which explains why Stefan is trying desperately to avoid Elena since we both know that in his special brooding little way, he blames himself for Katherine's death and doesn't wish to drag Elena into his 'dark' little world? Of course, since you were in love with Katherine as well, I'd imagine seeing her doppelganger has attracted your attention, not to mention you always jump at the chance to make Stefan's life a living hell. So, for you I guess this is kind of like killing two birds with one stone. Annoy Stefan to death AND woo the girl that reminds you of your long lost love. Am I right?"

He stared at her with unabashed amusement, and it only served to raise her blood pressure even higher. "More or less. I think reincarnation has made you a lot grumpier than you used to be," he quipped insultingly.

"You're probably right," she cried angrily. "Or it could be the fact that yet again, I'm going to be pulled into the land of sibling rivalry gone bonkers! Seriously, Lucy died almost five hundred years ago and it's like I never left Renaissance Italy! Damon, I think you'll find that my tolerance for bullshit is WAY lower than it was back then. So if you're here to drink my blood or kill me or do whatever it is you've been doing to the unfortunate women you've been messing around with for the last half a millennium, then please get it the hell over with. I've got school in the morning."

The words were no sooner out of her mouth before he was upon her. Without warning she found herself pulled against his warm body yet again, his hand fisted in her hair and his lips crashing down on hers.

He devoured her mouth, branding her with his lips in a way she'd never experienced before. Oh, she'd been kissed once or twice, but never like this. It was as if he wanted to imprint his very essence into her body with just his kiss, and by the devastation the kiss was having on her senses she suspected that if he really wanted to, he could. Already, she felt her anger slipping away, being replaced by a fire of a different kind entirely.

Unknowingly, she gave a whimper of desire, molding her soft curves against the hard plains of his body as she lost herself to the feel of him, to the newly awakened passion that ignited in her blood stream. It was as if her body had been deep in slumber, waiting for the touch of this one man before it could awaken.

Vaguely she felt him push her backwards, lifting her to rest against the railing of the balcony. Instinctively she shifted her legs so he could step between them, a moan pulling from her throat as the heat of him pressed closely to a part of her body that now felt so empty.

He broke from her mouth to trail his lips over her face, kissing her nose and eyes before trailing his lips down the column of her throat, leaving a scorching path of fire wherever his lips touched.

"Invite me inside, Rosalie," he growled.

She was drowning, her thoughts so far removed from her body that it took several moments to understand what he was telling her to do. Some semblance of brain function returned for a brief minute.

"I can't," she moaned as his tongue snaked out to lick the throbbing pulse at the base of her throat. "My parents."

He growled again and it sent shivers down her spine, but somehow he understood her unspoken question. "I give you my word that I will not hurt them."

Even in the fog of lust that enfolded her, she managed to open her eyes and look at him. He met her gaze fiercely, and she knew he was telling her the truth, knew it somewhere in the very deepest part of her soul. She also saw another truth there as well.

"You're going to drink from me aren't you," she whispered huskily, lost somewhere between desire and fear as the truth of her words washed through her and she knew his answer before he gave it.

"Yes," he answered, his hand moving from her hair to cup her face gently.

"Will you kill me?" she asked with the last bit of her will. The heat of her anger had been sated and was now a desire so encompassing that she had no want to fight it. The memories of that other life and the newly awakened fervor in her body only served to make her want to be as close to this man as she could get. If just for a moment, she wanted to forget that he wasn't really hers, that he loved another and just enjoy the fact that she could touch him once again after so long going without.

He kissed her lips again, this time softly to gain her attention, and then met her eyes again. Desire had turned them a deep and stormy gray, and he met them with his own dark obsidian gaze and answered her with one single word.

"Never."

It was enough. For the moment it was all she wanted and needed.

"Damon, won't you come in?" she asked and then gave a breathless scream of both pleasure and pain as he plunged his fangs deep into her neck. He held her there, under the moonlight on the railing of her balcony, as he drank deeply from her.

She felt her body begin to grow heavy, and the edges of her vision began to dim, she wrapped her arms around him and cradled him to her. It was heaven to be able to caress him this way, something that she hadn't even dared imagine during her life as Lucy. Vaguely she recalled a dream she had once, but lost it as her eyes grew heavy and she began to sink down into the depths of sleep.

"Remember your promise, Damon," she sighed as she lost the fight and slipped into slumber.

She wasn't aware when he stopped his feasting of her blood. Didn't feel it when he swiped his tongue tenderly against the wound to heal it, nor when he gently cradled her to him, his hand again tangled in her long mass of hair and his nose pressed against her waves as he inhaled the scent of her deep into his lungs.

Pulling her body close to his once again, he carried her smoothly, stepping past the threshold of her bedroom into the darkness of her room. He found her bed with ease and laid her sleeping form upon it lightly.

In the darkness, he watched her sleep, watching the rise and fall of her chest with a deep sense of wonder. It wasn't until the soft glow of sunlight began to make its way into the room that he moved from her side, caressing her face one last time and slipped back out into the dawn, his body shifting into the form of a large raven as he leapt from the balcony and flew off into the distance.

**OOOOOOOO**

She awoke feeling sluggish. The sound of her alarm blaring in her ear making her grumble sleepily and she reached for it grumpily and chucked it across the room; satisfied when it crashed against the wall and stopped with its annoying buzzing.

"Note to self, never wake Rosalie up in the morning if I value my life," the silky voice penetrated the last layers of sleep with a jolt.

She shot up with a yell, only to groan as the room swam in front of her and it felt like a heavy metal band had taken residence in her aching skull.

Immediately a hand snaked out to keep her from smacking her head against her head board as she tried to lie back down and ease the throb of her head. It steadied her as she let the world right it self before she turned to glare at the intruder who had woken her so rudely.

Damon smiled at her with his usual grin, apparently unaffected by the fact that he was a blood sucking vampire sitting on the edge of her bed helping her through what felt like the hang over from hell. A hang over that he had given her in the first place.

"What in the world are you doing in my bedroom at," she instinctively turned to glance at the clock that usually sits on her side table and frowned when she found it missing, mysteriously. "What happened to my alarm clock?"

"You killed it," he quipped, pointing to the very broken piece of plastic and wires that now sat on the other side of the room. "Who would have thought that you could be so violent, that poor clock died a very ugly death Little Rosalie."

She felt her face flush as she realized what happened. Usually she woke up before her alarm clock could even go off, having always been a morning person. However, on the rare occasion when someone or something interrupted her sleep before she was ready to wake up, it never ended well.

"It's your fault!" she cried in her defense. "If you hadn't made me your little midnight snack last night—"

Her face flushed even hotter as she recalled the exact events of the night before. A glance at Damon from underneath her lashes only served to mortify her even more, as he had a knowing smirk on his face.

Groaning she lifted her knees to her chest and hid her face against them. "Why are you here Damon? Did you stay the entire night? Did I…did we…damn it!" she growled in frustration, having never had a problem stating her thoughts before and finding this new shyness of hers very annoying. "Did we have sex?"

"No," his dark satin voice sounded right at her ear, and she bit her lip as a shiver of remembrance ran through her entire body. "If we had had sex Rosalie, you definitely would remember it."

"Arrogant much?" she shot back before lifting her face to shoot him another glare. He sat in a chair beside her bed, a chair he'd pulled from her desk sometime during the night, and studied her in his careless way. She closed her eyes once to gather her thoughts and then pinned him with a determined stare. "I have to get ready for school, Damon. If there's something you need to say to me, please say it. And no more jumping me for nips of my blood, as interesting as that was, I don't think I have enough to spare you right now. I feel like a bag of horse droppings as it is. Wait, how can you be out during the day?"

She frowned at him in confusion and then turned to glance at the morning light streaming into her bedroom.

Damon held his hand out to her and for the first time she noticed the large ring that rested upon his index finger. How she had managed to not notice it before was beyond her, considering it was roughly the size of a house. "This ring has a spell cast on it, which allows its wearer to walk in the sun. Without it, I'd go up in flames. As for feeding from you, I won't be doing that for a while at least. I took quite a lot from you last night, more than I had intended."

"How did you get such an object? Who can make them?" was her next question, which she launched at him as she rose from her bed, trying not to blush as his eyes took in her rumpled and rather skimpy shorts and camisole sleeping attire. She grabbed her robe and pulled it around her immediately giving him a frown which only made him quirk his eyebrow at her.

"Katherine had it made for me. Stefan has one as well," he answered pretending not to notice when she flinched at that woman's name. "Witches with great power can make them, and Katherine's maid was one such witch. She had them made for us before she turned us."

"Ah," she responded as she puttered around her room, opening her closet and grabbing a pair of dark denim jeans and a cute lavender button down top that belted at the middle. She didn't face him, not wanting him to see how Katherine's name made her want to throw things. She reached into her underwear drawer and pulled out a deep satin demi bra and matching thong panties, so wrapped up in her thoughts that she wasn't paying attention.

When she turned to face Damon again, his face was dark and he studied her with a hungry look. "Those are very racy under things for a normal day at school." he stated softly, dangerously.

The blush she'd been fighting graced her cheeks but she squared her shoulders and looked him straight in the face. "I like nice lingerie they're like a hidden secret nobody ever knows about. It makes me feel very feminine. Don't knock my panties, Damon."

His dark eyes met hers and she wondered if he was going to jump her again.

"I wasn't "knocking" them as you say. I was merely imagining you walking around all day with those naughty little scraps of cloth under your clothes."

Her eyes widened as she absorbed that statement, and then the absurdity of the current situation suddenly hit her full force.

She was standing in her bedroom discussing her panties with a vampire she had known from a past life.

"Damon, could you leave please?" she asked quietly. "I'm not trying to be mean or anything, but suddenly this is all too much for me to handle. Not only did I just find out that I'm the reincarnation of a girl who lived five hundred years ago, but now I have to adjust to the fact that vampires and witches exist and that I just spent the night making out with one on my balcony. And now you're acting towards me in a way you never have before, and I'm responding to you in a way I never have with any one and it's all too much for my brain to take in. I want to get ready for school and lose myself in normal things like the horribly difficult physics test I have after lunch today. Please, I need time to center myself before this all gets so far out of hand that I won't know which end is up anymore."

He considered her for a moment before he rose from the chair and made his way to the door. "I understand. There are things I need to take care of as well."

At the doorway he turned to her, his dark eyes holding her gaze steadily. "I will be back, Rosalie. Don't think for one moment that we are finished."

He was gone before she had time to respond. She stared at the spot he had just vacated dumbly. , wondering for a moment if he'd really been there.

With a shake of her head she pushed all thoughts of Damon Salvatore from her mind, and turned to head towards her bathroom and a nice long hot shower. She decided missing homeroom was worth the extra time to regain her sanity.

**OOOOOOOO**

"Did you hear the latest rumor?" a female voice asked across the cafeteria. "Elena Gilbert met a hot guy in France over the summer, and she's been secretly dating him!"

Rosalie frowned as she made her way through the throng of gossiping teenagers.

The day wasn't going at all well for her. Not only had she arrived at school ten minutes late for first period, but she felt downright awful on top of it. Her head felt like it was going to split apart, and she felt so weak and lightheaded. She hoped some food would make her feel well enough to make it through her physics test after lunch.

"Rosalie!" she sighed wearily as her friend Jess called her over to her table, normally she liked Jess's incessant chatter, however at the moment all she wanted was some peace and quiet.

She made her way to the table anyway and smiled politely at the other students sitting there as they made room for her.

"So did you hear about Elena's latest fling?" her friend gushed the moment Rosalie was settled. "I mean, I thought she was dating Matt when summer started last year, how could she go off with some other guy?"

"I doubt its true, Jess," Rosalie answered after taking a sip of her apple juice. She really wasn't feeling good. Damn that Damon! "I'm sure its some little piece of bull that was either spread by Elena herself or someone who wants to cause her trouble."

She glanced across the cafeteria to where Elena was sitting with her usual entourage. She noted Elena's unruffled demeanor and even detected a slight hint of satisfaction on her face, and would bet that Elena herself started that rumor. No doubt in some crazy attempt to make a certain vampire hottie jealous.

"Why would Elena start a rumor like that though? Don't you think it does her more damage than good?" Jess asked curiously. She was also studying Elena, but she saw nothing unusual. However, Rosalie had a way of seeing things that Jess found highly mysterious, but almost always reliable.

The petite girl shrugged her shoulders, reaching up to massage her aching head. "Elena doesn't strike me as someone who likes to admit defeat very easily," she answered cryptically to which Jess just gave her a confused look before turning away to talk to one of the other girl's at the table leaving Rosalie alone with her thoughts.

Rosalie wondered briefly if she ought to tell Elena that the object of her affection was in fact a vampire, but she tossed the thought out of her head almost as soon as it formed.

There was absolutely no way that Elena would believe her, and even if she did, Rosalie doubted that it would change the girl's mind. If there was anything that Rosalie knew about Elena it was that she was very one track minded when it came to the object of her current affection. Besides, it really wasn't any of her business.

Glancing at the clock she decided that she'd make her way to class early. She wasn't in the mood to deal with the crowded hallways.

As she made her way to the physics room, her mind wandered back to the events of the night before. She knew that she needed to figure out what she was going to do about the whole mess. She hadn't been lying to Damon when she told him she needed to sort things out before she lost her mind.

Everything she had thought she'd known about herself and about life in general, was completely turned around now. The very fact that she was the reincarnation of a girl, who had grown up in the heart of the Renaissance, was more than enough to make any mind feel a little less than sane. Compound that life altering realization with the fact that she had been very much in love with a man who was now a vampire of all things, and Rosalie wondered if she'd already gone insane.

The lines of her life, which had always been so clearly cut, were now blurred beyond any recognition. Even now, she could feel that part of her soul that had been Lucy aching to find Damon and spend as much time with him as she could. Oh she longed for him, had missed him so. And that thought was what Rosalie had the biggest problem with.

Damon was a stranger to her, and yet last night she'd allowed him to take complete control of her. She'd even invited him into her home, allowed him to take her blood! What was worse was that though she'd only met him yesterday, she completely trusted him to keep his word to her. Why should she trust him? What had he done to earn it?

She didn't want to trust him, didn't want to love him. The love she'd had for him so long ago had destroyed her, and she'd be damned if she'd allow it to happen again.

The next time she talked to Damon, she was going to set down some ground rules. There would be no more of what happened last night. If his touch could make her lose her control like that, then he wouldn't be allowed to touch her. Until she learned how to separate Lucy's feelings from her own, she'd have to keep her distance from him.

A noise coming from the sound room pulled her from her thoughts. As she glanced towards the room, the door opened and Stefan Salvatore walked out, Caroline Forbes not far behind.

When the red head noticed Rosalie standing there, she smiled viciously and with a very obvious intent looped her arm through Stefan's.

"Rosalie, Stefan and I were just eating lunch together," Caroline purred, pressing herself as close to the confused man as she could. Rosalie almost laughed at the chagrined expression on said man's face. She realized that though he was uncomfortable, Stefan was too polite to pull away. "What are you doing here?"

"I have a physics test, and I wanted to get to class early enough to go over my notes once more," she answered with a shrug. "You're making Stefan very uncomfortable with your clinging, Caroline. Perhaps you should let the poor guy go, seeing as he's too nice to ask you himself."

Caroline's green eyes flashed with anger and instead of letting go, she moved even closer. "What are you jealous or something? We spent the whole lunch period together; I think Stefan and I are VERY comfortable with each other now."

Rosalie shrugged again, her head hurting too much to argue with the delusional girl. Instead she turned to focus the weight of her gaze on Stefan. She met his gaze steadily, and her mind wondered at the fact that she had known him when he was only a child. He'd always been a serious boy, but now he carried a weight of such sorrow around him, it broke her heart to see him this way.

"This isn't what you really want Stefan. If you keep fighting, you'll only make things a lot harder for yourself," she advised him seriously. "And I think you've suffered enough already."

His eyes widened in shock as her words registered in his mind and he moved to say something, but Caroline kept him in place. He glanced down at the girl holding him in annoyance, but when he looked up again Rosalie was already moving on, making her way towards the physics room. She didn't look back.

**OOOOOOOO**

Well, there you have it: Chapter Four. I hope you enjoyed.

The next chapter might take a bit to get out as it is where the story really starts to get interesting.

As always, please let me know what you think.


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